Nothin' Better Than Dixon Hospitality
by Dis' Fool
Summary: Merle is pulling through one-handed, still holding a grudge for 'officer friendly'. Daryl put it past him that Merle could be dead, cause that can't happen. Only Merle can kill Merle. Both brothers though still have that nagging feeling in the back of their heads...what had become of their lil' Bug? Well, she's doin' damn fine..."Don' cry. Dixon's don' cry god damnit!"
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

Daryl's knuckles whitened, his grip on his crossbow tightening. _'You better not do somethin' fucking stupid Merle.' _Out of the corner of his eye he saw the black man, T-Dog, glance his way - fucker dropped the key, in a drain pipe. Who the fuck drops a key in a drain pipe? What the hell are the chances? Growling under his breath Daryl banged his fist against the box truck. "Fucken' go faster!"

He smirked at the sight of the China-man flinching from his corner. Good, kid should be scared, he was a pissed off Red-neck who's finger may just get trigger happy.

"This is as fast as it goes," he heard the pig say from up front.

"Bullshit!" Daryl muttered nastily, spitting on the floor.

First it was Bug, now Merle. He should have convinced his brother - convinced his brother to head out of state instead of heading into Atlanta. They could have been half way by now.

"Bug's proly fine lil' brother, quit yer damn worrin'." Merle had said. "Damn kid kicked the shit outta that one rich boy 'member? Lil' bastard was twice the size of Bug."

Daryl's lips twitched slightly at the memory of a small Bug coming home all battered and bruised, eyes red and puffy, little sniffles here an there. Merle and him had done a double-take when Bug had walked through the door. Merle had stated matter-factly that bug 'looked like shit'. Bug had just smiled a painfilled smile before saying, "Shoulda saw the rich pig, he's way worse."

_God damnit Merle!_ Daryl clenched his jaw, he was the only person he had now. He'd already lost Bug - he couldn't loose his brother too.

l=l

"Ya better come 'n git me baby brother!" Merle bellowed at the top of his lungs, yanking his hand with vigor against the cuff. "We's kin! I'm yer fuckin' blood!"

"You didn' come for me." Merle whirled around, squinting his eyes at the figure leaning against the pipe beside him.

"Holy shit, Bug?" He was hallucinating, he had to be, but dear god was he glad to see the lil' shit again.

"I'm blood to ya know," Bug said casually taking a look around before resting cold eyes onto him. "You didn' come an get me."

Merle let out a dry chuckle and leaned his head against the pipe, staring up at the sky and merciless sun. "Shit Bug, ya the one who flat out up 'n left."

"You an Daryl told me te get out." He was use to Bug's cold tone but right now it seemed colder than usual, younger, spiteful even.

Glancing in Bug's direction his eyes widened. He and Daryl had never admitted to each other that they both had felt a little of themselves die inside when Bug had suddenly disappeared for a few days a long time ago, but seeing the sight of his little Bug in a condition that was forever burned in his mind again caused his stomach to drop as he felt that feeling all over again.

"Don' you 'member? Ya'll yelled at me..." Merle swallowed the lump in his throat at the sight of young Bug wiping tears away - wiping away caked mud and blood, revealing the deep cut on Bug's left cheek.

"Bug don' go cryin' on ol' Merle now. 'Member what i said 'bout cryin'?"

Merle blanched at the sight of Bug's face turning into a snarl, the slight southern accent younger Bug had turned into a more prominent one. "Ya deserved this. Ya had it comin' Merle. I hope Daryl don' come fer ya."

Merle felt the rage bubble in his chest. How dare the lil' shit say that, after everything him and Daryl had to go through for the damn kid. Hell, him and Daryl even went to jail for the brat!

"Ya jus' wait ya lil' shit! Imma fuckin' knock ya on yer ass - ya lil' ungrateful brat! Ol' Merle ganno put ya in yer place with a whoopin' ya hear!" Merle shouted at the fading figure of Bug, tugging vigorousily on the cuffs again. "Damnit Darlyina! Git yer ass over here 'n get yer big brother off'a this motherfukin' roof!"

l=l

The faint crackle and pop of the fire, soft snores, whispers of conversation, sound of people milling about in the late night hour caused a lone figure to breathe out slowly before pulling the lip of a hat down over their face. They placed a toothpick into the corner of their mouth and placed their arms under their head as they allowed their eyes to slip closed to the somewhat soothing sounds of the makeshift camp.

"Hey, pipsqueak pass them beans yeah?"

"Did you clean your hands?"

"Your actually eating that?"

"What, its food."

"More like road-kill."

"Aye, how bout you shut your lil' white ass mouth up and be thankful that we actually have food today."

A woman stared across the fire with her mouth agape. Did that guy just really talk to her that way? With snickers coming from her right she immediately snapped her mouth shut and glared at the two teenage boys whose snickers turned to blown out laughter.

"Who got the squirrels anyway?" An older woman asked, her eyes moving around the people who sat near the fire.

"The lone ranger." One of the teenage boys nodded their head in the direction of the black Tundra that was a ways away from the group.

All eyes shifted to the figure laying atop the cab of the truck. "Anyone even offer the lone ranger some food?"

A man covered in tattoos who sat in the shadows behind the two teenage boys rose from his spot. A young woman who was leaning against one of the teenager's knees rose an eyebrow. "Where you going Antonio?"

"Where you think."

At the familiar sound of someone approaching the figure scowled underneath their hat. If someone came out here to complain that they were sleeping while on watch again, so help them they would get a bolt in the ass - hell they weren't even apart of the watch duty crew even.

"Lone ranger."

Moving their toothpick to the otherside of their mouth they pulled their hands out from under their head and tipped their hat up as they rose. Lone Ranger? Really? Dark cold blue eyes narrowed down at the familiar face of the tattooed man. "The hell ya want?"

Antonio raised an eyebrow at the southern accent. "Whats your name chica?"

The young woman clenched her jaw around her toothpick as she hefted her crossbow onto her lap, the bolt's tip lighting up from the light of the moon. "None of yer damn business."

Antonio kept his stance lazy, his eyes roving over the bolt that was pointed at him, aware that the young woman's finger was on the trigger. She didn't trust him, smart girl. He hardly trusted anyone from the group of people either, only putting his trust into the two teenage boys and young woman who had come with him. "Names Antonio Chavez."

The young woman sneered. "Look like I care?"

Antonio shrugged, setting his plate of food on top of the hood of the car. The young woman glanced down at the plate before glancing back at him with a confused stare. "You got the food, not right if you don't eat it any of it."

"Ain't hungry." The young woman glanced in the direction of the fire. "The youngin's eat?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her gaze shifting out to the opening field. Antonio leaned against the truck, his gaze following her's.

They sat in silence before the young woman broke it. "Lone ranger huh?"

Antonio nodded. "No one knows your name."

"No one bothers te' ask." At the side long look the man gave her she let out a small chuckle; her brother had always given her that look whenever they went out hunting together. "Ruth...Ruth Dixon."

* * *

**Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to check out my story! Wondering if I should continue since this is my first ever fanfiction story but hey drop a review if your up for it!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Just wanna say thanks to the people who have followed/favorited my story! Means alot! And thank you to my 2 reviewers! Heres the 1st chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

A small animal scurried across a tree branch unaware of the predator lurking nearby. A hiss flew through the air, a shimmer of silver being the only warning the small animal saw. It let out a shriek, body flying through the air, the bolt lodging itself and the limp less squirrel into a nearby tree with an audible 'thunk'.

The figure of a woman approached the embedded bolt, her dark blue eyes glancing at the setting sun. Ruth Dixon was nineteen, a young woman in most peoples eyes but to her to older brothers she was and always would be their lil' Bug. Merle and Daryl, her lips twitched into a smile – asshole have better still be alive somewhere; who was she kidding, course they were alive, her brothers were the toughest sonovabitches she knew. Eying the semi cute, chubby, fluffy, dead squirrel that got the bad end of her bolt she couldn't help but smirk, this fat lil' bastard was going over her fire tonight. Pulling her bolt out of the tree trunk she plucked the squirrel off of it and shoved half of its body into her back jean pocket. Glancing at the setting sun once more Ruth made her way through the woods.

Its been about a month since the outbreak, about a month she has spent her time with a group of seventeen people, about a month without her brothers, about a damn month away from her home state. She narrowed her eyes, biting on the inside of her cheek. _Should'uv never left._ She let out a soft sigh, she hoped those dickheads were at least safe somewhere safe and she fucken' prayed that Daryl kept an eye on Merle. Ruth was aware of the fact that her oldest brother liked to get a high, and knowing him he had probably stashed some of his strongest shit somewhere close by during this whole apocalypse.

She frowned at the mental image of Merle high off his ass getting eaten by zombies – not likely; more like Merle high off his ass and going ape shit with Daryl's crossbow, using it as a damn baseball bat to kill those ugly mother fuckers, all the while yelling at the top of his lungs, "Ya'll want some of ol' Merle now huh? Well come n' git some!" She smirked, yep, that was more like it.

Ruth tensed at the sound of a gurgled grown. _'Stay alert Bug ya dumb ass!' _She sneered at Daryl's voice, even when they weren't with her their voices in her head apparently still wanted to chide her. Turning around her dark blue eyes landed on a Ugly, a woman that was stumbling over her own two feet and gnashing her teeth together in a dirtied, ripped to shreds, black dress that Ruth guessed had to have been really expensive at one point. Most of the woman back at camp would have puked their guts out at the sight of this Ugly but Ruth wasn't a pussy, a little disgusted maybe but not a pussy. Merle had taught her that it was a sign of weakness if you puked your guts out in front of people, and Dixon's didn't show any sign of weakness; her brothers had toughened her up long before all this shit.

The Ugly had half her scalp hanging off of her head, one arm, a large gaping whole in her side with dangling pieces of flesh, the left leg was twisted backwards, the right hand was nothing but bone with skin hanging loosely off it, one eye had sunken in, the other looking close to falling out. Raising her crossbow Ruth lined up her sight and held her finger on the trigger. "You one hell'uva ugly ass skank."

Pulling the trigger she watched as her bolt flew true hitting the Ugly right in the head. As the Ugly crumpled to the floor she heard the faint sound of laughter – the camp. Her brows furrowed, the Uglys were starting to move away from the cities and towns now. Ruth's eyes scanned the woods, her ears listening out for the slightest sound of groans, leaves crunching, twigs snapping, anything that informed her of more Uglys.

'_That's mah alert Bug.'_ She rolled her eyes at Daryl's voice before walking over and yanking her bolt out of the Ugly's head with a squelch. Wiping it on the tattered black dress really well she placed the bolt underneath the crossbow snapping it into place in the bolt holder. Tossing the strap over her shoulder, she swung her crossbow behind her back as she began to walk towards the camp.

Ruth scowled as she realized what she had to do. She had to let everyone know about the Ugly in the woods, least the people who she didn't want die and that was like what, just Antonio and his small group of three. She kicked at a rock as she broke through the woods, entering the open field. Fuck, she didn't want to go over there. Most of the men were weary of her anyway and the women just gave her dirty looks half the time, why? She had no fucking clue.

Her eyes narrowed at the sight of a familiar figure around the main fire where everyone was gathered at. Henry. Henry apparently thought of himself as the established leader of the group, the savior of them all! _Yeah right. _He wasn't the one who kept the large group fed for two weeks straight, she was. Antonio's small group and Ruth were the only one's who didn't grovel at the man's feet – which he didn't like too much.

Hearing the laughter of children caused Ruth's stomach to twist uncomfortably. "Fucken' god damnit…"

Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the Lone Ranger approaching, her cold blue eyes hardening as she looked around the fire with a scowl on her face. Antonio raised an eyebrow, he knew how the young woman hated being around people and he could tell she hated every second of standing there. They all waited, watching as she readjusted the strap of her crossbow.

"I'd keep 'em kids away from the woods. Killed n' Ugly in there."

Antonio smirked; the whole group was staring in shock at Ruth. He was the only one who actually spoke to her and he had been the only one aware of her southern accent.

Having said what she needed to say she spun on her heel and began to walk away till a woman opened her mouth, Henry's bitch. "What the hell were you doing in the woods anyway? You aren't one of the men."

_And I ain't Henry's lil' bitch either._ Oh, how bad she wanted to say to that. It was right there, on the tip of her tongue.

"You know the rules, woman stay in camp – leave the scouting to the men and for god's sake get rid of the damn crossbow before you hurt someone with that damn thing." Ruth's hand tightened around the strap as she turned fixing Henry's bitch with a cold stare. She would have laughed out loud at the way the woman slightly scooted closer to Henry but she didn't, instead she said in a sickening sweet tone, "Ain't ganno happen darlin'."

Henry's face contorted into anger as the woman turned to leave again. She was disobeying the rules the group had established – well okay, he established and he wasn't about to let this woman get away with it. He was the leader of this group and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to set the so called 'Lone Ranger' in her place. He stood and marched over to her grasping the crossbow and pulling her back while saying, "Give me the cross Lone Ranger."

Ruth tensed as she felt herself being jerked back. She slowly looked over her shoulder, her eyes locking onto the hand holding a firm grip on her – her fucking crossbow. Nobody, and she meant nobody, touched a Dixon's property but another Dixon. Gritting her teeth, her eyes narrowed at the man holding onto her, fucking, crossbow. "Git yer hands offa my crossbow."

Antonio watched with weary eyes. He didn't like where this was going.

"Give me the damn crossbow." Henry jerked on the crossbow again.

"I'm warnin' ya, git yer hands offa my crossbow," Ruth said in dangerously low voice.

Henry jerked on it again, harder. "Crossbow. Off. Now."

'_Oh-ho, who da' hell does he think he is?' _Ruth heard Merle's voice growl out in her head.

Henry was the supposed leader of this group but he didn't own her, he didn't govern her. She didn't have to abide to his so called rules; she abided to her own rules, and only her rules. Ruth pictured that if Merle was actually here and saw this guy handling her this way, oh boy, this sonovabitch would be nothin' but a bloody pulp on the ground.

"Git. Yer. Fucken'. Hands. Offa. My. Crossbow." She growled out through gritted teeth.

The group of people around the fire watched in tense silence as Henry narrowed his eyes. It was when Henry made a move of barely lifting the Lone Ranger's crossbow did all break loose.

Ruth jerked her crossbow out of Henry's grip catching him off guard as she threw her fist into his jaw. Henry stumbled backwards a few steps, a loud 'fuck' leaving his mouth. With quick hands Ruth had her crossbow in front of her, the bowstring pulled back and locked, a bolt onto the loading strip, readied to be fire and pointed at Henry as he got his footing.

Two men had jumped up, both holding machetes. Henry's bitch had stood to, a handgun in her palms. Ruth chuckled; the bitch had the safety on. The sound of two separate guns being cocked caught her attention and she stiffened. Her eyes landed on Antonio; he had a shotgun in his hands and had it pointed at the two men who were standing side by side. She glanced over, one of the teenage boys had Antonio's handgun pointed at Henry's bitch, with the safety off. She had to thank them later for having her back, but right now…

"Let me tell ya somethin' Henry, n' ya better fucken' listen cause I'm only tellin' ya this once; ya don' tell me what I can n' can't do, ya don' govern me, ya don' even try n' take my shit away from me and if ya even think of tryin' to keep me here in camp like yer lil' bitch here, I won' even fucken' hesitate te put a damn bolt in yer eye."

With slow deliberate steps towards him, she poked his chest with the loaded bolt. "N' if ya don' want this camp here ta starve I suggest ya stay outta my fucken' way cause I know none of ya'll can't hunt fer shit. Who'dya think fed those kids for two weeks with these," she reached behind her and pulled the dead squirrel out by its tail. "lil' bastards. I did."

She dropped her crossbow and took a step back, tossing Henry a sweet smile. "Stay outta my fucken' way, ya hear."

With that she shoved the squirrel back in her pocket and swung her crossbow behind her. Walking away she raised an eyebrow at Merle's voice, _'Thats righ' Bug, ya don' take shit from none of 'em fuckers.'_

Walking towards her lone black Toyota Tundra, she pulled her squirrel out and tossed it into the bed of truck before opening the driver's door and grasping a blanket. Closing the door she glanced at the side view mirror. Her mouth twitched slightly, the light of the full moon allowed her to see her reflection through the side view mirror.

Merle use to crack jokes 'bout her being an ugly duckling and Daryl had always shook his head and ruffled her hair, telling Merle that when she turned into a beautiful swan he was ganno wish she stayed an ugly duckling. Sure Ruth thought her self not hard on the eyes, but she was just your average southern redneck woman in her own eyes; she was tall standing at 5'9, tiny nose, high cheek bones, thin lips, dark blue eyes, dark sandy colored hair that flowed in layers well past her shoulders, bronze skin from always having been out in the Georgia sun. The only flaws she saw on herself were the thin scar on her left cheek and her being a Dixon - that however was just a whole different flaw in its self though.

A breeze caused her hair to flutter around behind her. Walking back towards the bed of the truck she pulled out her black 'lone ranger cowboy hat' - as everyone seemed to call it now - and put it on her head before hopping onto the hood of the truck, pulling herself up on top of the cab. She arranged herself to the daily routine; set crossbow beside her, lie down, place blanket over legs, pull hat over face, bust out a toothpick, place toothpick in mouth, put arms behind head, close eyes, give the new world full of undead Uglies and alive fuckers the middle finger and relax before she dozed off.

Ruth scowled. "Fuck California, golden state my redneck ass…"


	3. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! Thank you for the reviews and those who have followed/favorite my story from last chapter! Here's another chapter and sorry for taking forever with the update, I'm a senior in highschool and right now I have senioritis bad so I'm trying to catch up on some work I need to turn in and then I barely found out that I start at my 1st job next weekend haha so crazy week for me! Anyway you guys don't care bout this! Why am i rambling? Happy reading! And trust me the next chapter will be much longer, along with the rest of the chapters for now on!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The flames danced, swaying to an fro, flowing with the early morning breeze. Ruth stared at the fire, a blank expression on her face, a far away look in her eyes. As the fire crackled softly in the background, the world Ruth was in slowly disappeared, the memory playing in front of her eyes.

_"Where's Merle?"_

_ Ruth shrugged, her eyes glued to the small TV. The news reported was reporting a bizarre story about a High school in the state of Florida. Ruth raised a brow as the scenes changed, the camera showing a small slim pretty girl who had a microphone shoved in her face, talking a mile a minture. She was ranting on about how she never did feel safe around any of the school's janitors but she had the 'heebie jeebies' around the janitor that was now in police custody._

_ "- creeper to all the girls! He liked raped us with his eyes half the time!" Ruth rolled her eyes, of course the preppy cheerleader would say something like that. "He was just a plain wierdo! I mean - look! He bit me! Bit me!"_

_ "Damn," Ruth whispered as the girl showed her arm to the camera; her arm was red and puffy around the bite mark, patches of skin where teeth had been were scraped off from when the campus security had pulled the janitor off._

_ "The hell ya watchin' Bug?" Daryl asked as he passed by._

_ "Some crazy ass shit, come 'n watch!" She called over her shoulder._

_ "Merle!" Daryl shouted down the hall of their mobile home. "Merle! Git yer hung over ass in here, bought pizza!"_

_ Ruth jumped up off the couch, the bizarre story being forgotten as the smell of pizza wafted over to her nose. She rushed over to the kitchen as Daryl set the box down on the counter. He opened the box lid, and Ruth's mouth dropped. Daryl had gotten the good shit. The really, really good shit too; with bell peppers, meatballs, onions, sausages, pepperoni, cooked mushrooms, and dear lord - bacon bits. "Holy shit! Did'ya git yer paycheck te'day?"_

_ As she reached for a piece Daryl cuffed her in the back of her head. "What'd i say 'bout leavin' your crossbow layin' 'round?"_

_ "Ow! That fucken' hurt ya jackass," Ruth mumbled rubbing the back of her head as Daryl passed her a plastic plate._

_ "Don't leave your crossbow layin' 'round then," Daryl said taking a bite of his slice of pizza. "Why's my crossbow out anyway?"_

_ Ruth paused, her slice of pizza halfway towards her mouth. Shit, she forgot to put Daryl's crossbow away. He would flip his shit if she told him the truth. Taking a bite out of her pizza she walked over to their small table and plopped down into a chair before cooly saying, "Thought I'd clean it fer ya since I was a'ready cleanin' mine."_

_ She glanced at him and swallowed her food. His eyes had narrowed at her and he was chewing slowly. Shit, shit, shit! Daryl was always good at catching her in her lies but she felt she had played it off pretty well - how wrong she was. When Daryl opened his mouth to speak Ruth shouted, "Merle! Daryl's eatin' yer pizza!"_

_ "Christ Bug, shut-da-fuck-up," Merle grumbled in a hoarse voice rubbing his hand down his face as he came down the hall. "Darylina, ya betta not be eatin' mah piece."_

_ Ruth stood as Merle entered the kitchen walking over to the cabinets. Merle squinted at the rays of sun coming through the blinds muttering, "Fuckin' bright in 'ere..."_

_ Daryl's mouth twitched and Ruth smirked as she rifled through the cabinets searching for something that would help out her oldest brother's hangover. Merle grabbed a glass from the sink filling it up with water when Daryl said, "Ya look like shit."_

_ "Feel like shit," Merle rasped lifting the cup to his mouth taking a long gulp before grinning over at Daryl. "S'worth it though...mmmhmm...take this shit every mornin' is ah had a fuckin' threesome every night!"_

_ Daryl choked on the food he was swallowing and Ruth scrunched up her nose in disgust. Turning around with an Aspirin bottle in hand, she used her other hand to pat Daryl's back while glowering at Merle who was howling in laughter._

_ "The fuck Merle! We don' wana hear 'bout your sex life!" Daryl growled out._

_ "Yeah, think I lost my appetite," Ruth said walking over to Merle and handing him the aspirin bottle._

_ "Aww, 'm sorry Bug," Merle chuckled ruffling her hair. "Didn' mean ta make yer virgin ears bleed. Oh yeah, I'd take a shower."_

_ Ruth raised an eyebrow at him as Daryl walked out of the mobile home shaking his head. "Took one las' night."_

_ Merle's shit eating grin spread across his face and Ruth felt her stomach drop - not good. "Don' want dat residue dat wus on mah hand in yer hair now do ya?"_

_ "Ohmyfucken' - imma shove my foot up yer ass Merle!" Ruth yelled as she lunged forward._

_ Merle laughed, side stepping out of the way and catching her head in a head lock. "That ain't fair Merle!"_

_ Merle gave her a rough noogie, his knuckles slightly burning from the friction. "Nothin' fair in life Bug."_

_ Ruth froze at the sound of curses on the porch - Daryl had his crossbow, shit. A slow grin spread across Merle's face, he looked down at a wide eyed Ruth. "What'd ya do?"_

_ "Uhh..."_

_ Ruth flinched as the front door slammed open, the door knob causing another crack to form on the wall as it bounced off the wall with a loud 'bang'. Daryl was beyond furious, he was pissed. He walked into the kitchen and threw his cross onto the table knocking Ruth's plate off, her pizza falling to the floor with a 'splat'._

_ Merle let out a low whistle. "Damn Bug yer-"_

_ "Fuckin' dead!" Daryl shouted._

Ruth's mouth twitched into a slight smile, that had happened only a month in half ago. Letting out a small breath she rose from her position on the ground and raised her arms over her head stretching out. Her eyes scanned the camp, the people. Everyone seemed restless, their eyes would shift from person to person in an agitated manner. She stirred up quite the scene yesterday - half the camp seemed to have divided up.

Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Antonio approaching. He had a hand reach in his pocket as he approached and Ruth stiffened, her hand instinctively going to her hunting knife that was attached to her waist. Antonio gave her a quizzical look as he pulled out a pack of toothpicks, tossing them to her. Catching them with one hand, Ruth sniffed in irritation. He had noticed she was running low on toothpicks to chew on.

She tossed them into the bed of her truck before turning around and grasping her crossbow that was propped up against a tire. "Were leaving."

Ruth shifted her toothpick to the other side of her mouth, her eyes glancing over at him. "Small group of people are coming with us, 'bout nine of us total."

"So?" He was telling her this why? She scowled down at the fly invested squirrel she had shot yesterday, she had planned to cook it yesterday but since she had gotten side tracked - fly infested cooked squirrel was not going to be on her breakfast menu. Waste of a damn good squirrel too.

"I need you to come with me to make a quick resource run into the nearby city." Ruth looked up at him again, raising an eyebrow.

Antonio was about an inch taller than her with Daryl's body build. He was an older Hispanic man - good looking for his age - with dark short hair, brown eyes, sharp nose and chin; his arms and legs covered in tattoos with a few more covering his chest and back. He had been a tattoo artist, working in downtown Los Angeles before the whole apocalypse.

Ruth was one young woman he liked to hang around, she wasn't constantly trying to seduce him like some of the other single woman in camp. Sure she gave him the cold shoulder every now an then but she hasn't pushed him away, instead he found himself being the closest thing to a friend she probably had her. He had guessed that she allowed herself to open up to him slightly only because she had said that he reminded her of someone back home.

He had noticed how she never came near the camp, keeping a certain amount of distance away. If someone other than himself approached her, she would turn away and walk in the opposite direction, always retreating to her safe haven - the woods. Staring at the reclusive girl now though, she had no idea that she had earned the camps respect; she had no idea that he would take her over anyone else in the camp to watch his back.

"Easier if one person went 'stead of two." Ruth slung her crossbow over her shoulder, her hand holding the strap over her chest. "What'cha need, jus' the basic necessities?"

Antonio nodded his head. "Mostly."

Ruth chewed on the tip of her toothpick, her eyes shifting towards the open field. She had enough respect for the Hispanic man to do him a favor, he did after all step up for her last night. "I'll go 'n get'cha yer stuff. I owe ya after all."

"You aren't going alone, me and the two chicos over there are coming with you." Antonio gestured with his thumb over his shoulder.

Ruth glanced over his shoulder and saw the two teenage boys sitting atop the hood of a red Hummer. "Yer signin' yer own death warrants. I'm goin' alone, do better by myself."

Antonio shook his head. "Ain't happening, were coming with you. Four people are better against a group of Uglys then one."

Ruth sneered, her hand curling tighter around her crossbow strap. "Goin' alone whether ya like it or not. I'll put a bolt through all ya'll knees. Dixon's do better alone." _Dixon's do better with their own kin watchin' there backs._


End file.
